Harold Angus Cloer

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DailyTidings.com

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Posted Nov. 14, 2012 at 2:00 AM

Posted Nov. 14, 2012 at 2:00 AM

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Hal Cloer, 89, passed away October 5, 2012. Hal was an emeritus professor of psychology at Southern Oregon University. He resided in Ashland for 56 years. He grew up on a farm in Central California during the Depression. He attended the College of Pacific, joined the U.S. Navy after Pearl Harbor, was sent to the University of Oklahoma to complete a degree in electrical engineering, was commissioned an ensign at the U.S. Naval Academy, was sent to Bowdoin College for additional training in electronics, then served as communications and division officer on an attack cargo ship in the Pacific.

After discharge from the Navy, Hal obtained a master's degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University and taught electronics at Eastern Arizona Junior College. He later returned to Stanford to obtain a doctorate in counseling and higher education. In 1952, he accepted the position of Director of Guidance Services and Testing at Southern Oregon College of Education. His professional focus was career counseling, social psychology, and adult development. His research in those areas resulted in presentations at regional and national psychology conventions. He attended international psychology conventions in Moscow and in London.

Hal spent a sabbatical year in Europe, attending the University of Grenada in Spain, skiing in Austria, and touring Western Europe in a Karman Ghia. He and Barbara Rankin were married in Carmel, Calif. in 1968, and spent a month touring Mexico. After his marriage to Barbara, and for a number of years before they both retired, Hal was a silent partner in Barbara's gift shop in Medford. The couple made a three-month, 15,000-mile trip around the U.S. in a travel trailer; made six trips to Europe; five trips to Mexico; two to Asia; three to Canada; and cruised the Panama Canal.

Hal was president of the Ashland Library Board when it was a city department, then served on the board that set up the county library system. He was interim chairman of the committee of 50 that set policy for the $5.4 million Ashland Redevelopment Project; served on the Citizens Planning Advisory Committee that updated Ashland's Comprehensive Plan; was a member of the Historic and Planning Commissions; and served as treasurer for several civic funding measures. In 2001, Hal received the Ragland Community Service Award. He was a member of the Ashland League of Women Voters, Rotary Club, and Ashland's Charter Revision Committee.